iMeet Brian
by brightshadow16
Summary: A new kid in school. Will he befriend the iCarly gang, will he befriend one of them and alienate the others, will he turn out to be a serial borer who is also a ballerina? read on and find out. unless you like ballet, opera, and monotone voices.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note, version 1.0

I had this idea for a new character, based loosely on an amalgamation of several dozen people I know. Out of the nebulous mists of my mind, this character formed. So, who would he work best with? Do you have to ask? anyway, I have no idea how long this will be. and there might not be much romance. Depends mostly on reviews. Also, this is my first fic, i usually work with a longer medium, so if it runs long, you know why. now, enjoy. hopefully *Crosses fingers*

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Disclaimer: yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't own iCarly or any of the books mentioned. Dan owns iCarly and everything in it. But you know what Dan? You don't own my TV! How do you like that? And I do kinda sorta own Brian. Unless someone asks realllly nicely.

"Ugh, why does school have to start every year?" Sam complained to her friends. It was the start of yet another school year, and as usual, she didn't want to be there.

"It just does Sam." Carly told her. This exchange had happened every year since first grade. Sam had yet to accept it. Freddie walked in.

"Hola muchacha. Sam. What's happening?"

"Sam is upset school's happening again this year."

"Really Sam? It's not like this is something new anymore."

"Neither is your face, but that doesn't stop either one from being awful." The trio moved off to their first class, still bickering.

Science. Mr. Henning again. "Hello class. We have a new student this year." An excited murmuring started up. Was it a girl or a boy? Was it a hot boy (Asked mostly by girls)? Both Sam and Carly were anxious to figure this out. It still amused Freddie that Sam cared about things like this. You'd think she would have figured out that she should learn something about a boy before she started dating him. Look at Jonah, the sleazebag, or Pete who really only cared that the girl could break bones. He had dumped her after she won a fight that had apparently been going on for months. Freddie didn't mention it, but he was pretty sure Pete hadn't broken his arm falling down. At least, not accidentally.

"Brian, come in. Would you like to introduce yourself?" A boy walked in. He had on a green pair of cargo pants with two side pockets, and a dark green zip up hoodie left open. There were two large pockets on the outside, which were bulging. When he turned, the left side peeked open, revealing more pockets on the inside. He had messy dark blonde hair, barely blonde at all. Face on, he had hazel eyes, and was wearing a shirt with designs no one could really make out.

"Not really. But why not." He addressed the class. "Hi. My name's Brian, I just moved here from Jersey." He jammed his hands in his pants pockets, and walked to the only chair left open, right in front of Sam. He sat down and pulled a book out of one of the pockets lining his pants. It had the well-worn look only books that had been read ten or fifteen times had. He opened to somewhere in the middle, and started reading behind the lab table. Mr. Henning didn't notice, preoccupied with the standard first day stuff. Syllabus, rules, form to have your parents fill out. Sam was instantly bored. She started reading over Brian's shoulder, noticing it was one of her favorites, Lady Knight. Given the main character, she was pretty surprised he was reading it, but it did while away the class quite nicely.

The bell finally rang. Brian looked up, folded up the paper and stuffed it into a pocket. The book was carefully replaced, to Sam's regret. He scribbled something on a pad, and walked out. "Hey, I'll catch up to you guys later, kay?" Sam told her friends as she dropped the paper into her bag and swung it over her shoulder, then hurried after the departing guy.

He had stopped at the end of the hall, checking his schedule. "Yo!" She called out to him.

He looked up. "Me?" She stopped next to him.

"Yeah. Why are you reading Tamora Pierce? Isn't it for girls?"

He grinned. "Maybe. I though you were reading over my shoulder. It's got a good enough story I don't really care who it's supposed to be for. Ham's supposed to be for wolves, but it's delicious anyway. You're a fan of hers too I assume?"

She smiled. "Yeah. I got started reading a couple years ago because of a dare. Her's was some of the first stuff I read after that"

"Actually, if you don't mind stuff that wasn't 'written for girls' I probably have a couple serieses to recommend to you."

Sam was definitely interested now. There weren't really any major readers in Ridgeway. "That would be pretty cool."

"Aight." He reached into a pocket on the inside of his hoodie, and after a moment a ripped piece of paper came out. "Do you like fantasy or sci-fi better? I have plenty for both."

Sam suddenly felt like she was talking to Rip-off Rodney. "Just to make sure, this is free, right? No chiz about me owing you later or anything?"

Brian stared at her for a second. "Of course not! Why would you- never mind." He shoved the paper back into his sweatshirt. "If you really think I would try to sell you book names, then I gotta go." He walked off, muttering under his breath. Sam almost felt bad, but shrugged it off. He'd get over it. She went off to her home ec class. She loved cooking, mostly because she could always snag some of whoever was next to her's dish. First day did not involve cooking, but the teacher did have a tray of cookies. Until Sam snagged basically all of them on the way to her usual seat. She passed through her history class, bored out of her mind. She finally was reunited with her friends during math.

"Hey Carly. Freddork." She sat down and started arranging her bag on the seat behind her.

"Why'd you run off like that?" Carly asked.

"When?" Sam did her best dumb blond impression.

"After science." Freddie told her.

"Oh yeah. I just wanted to talk to that new kid. Tell him the rules around this little school of mi- ours. "

"Ugh. Sam, do you have to be so mean to every new kid? Last year it was tom. The kid actually ducked when you came closer than four feet. And the year before that, it was Chris. He doesn't talk if he can see you, and he wears running shoes all the time, just in case he sees you. And the year before that-"

"I get it Fredifer. You don't need to recite all of the accomplishments of your queen." Sam said, slumping into her chair.

"One question." Both of the bickering eyes turned to Carly. "Why did you go to tell him? You usually wait until they do something you don't like, like go near you. You ran after him from a class?" Carly looked at Sam. "That's not like you. You wait for the victim to be near you. You don't chase them."

Sam shrugged. "So I did it differently than usual. Sue me."

Freddie chuckled. "It's not like you haven't been in court enough."

She glared at him. "Keep that up, and I'll have manslaughter on my record too."

The bickering started again. Carly sighed. She'd find out the truth eventually. Sam always stuck to her first story.

Sam daydreamed through math, waking up for the bell to walk to her last class, English. She walked in and stopped dead in her tracks. There, right next to her usual seat in the back, sat Brian. Her teeth started to grind. In her head, their argument had somehow changed to make it his fault. (A/N This happens with every girl I fight with ever. If I don't clear it up in an hour, it's my fault. Care to comment?) She stalked over, and shut _Lady Knight_ on his fingers. Hard.

Brian yelped. "Would you mind letting me put my book mark in before you close it next time? And while you're at it, try letting my fingers exist as solid bones, not fragments."

"That's all you have to say?" Sam's eyes glinted dangerously. "Just 'oh please don't hurt me' when you walk away after calling me some kind of cheap b****?"

Brian gaped at her. "What are you talking about? YOU said I was going to charge you for _book titles_, and I walked away. I didn't call you anything!"

"What? Are you calling me a liar?" Sam's voice had gotten dangerously soft.

"Let me think about that for a sec-YES" Brian appeared to have both a sarcastic streak, and a complete lack of fear.

Sam smacked the back of his head. Brian just looked at her, daring her to try something serious. So she did.

Her hands twisted on the strap of her bag, and swung it over her head and at his face. His right hand put the book down on the desk in front of him, and his left reached up and batted the bag off course. It crashed into the floor next to his chair.

"Please" he said calmly "avoid the book."

The bell rang, and she snarled at him. She actually liked the English teacher, Mrs. Mechmann, so she behaved almost well in the class. "Meet me after school behind the cafeteria. I don't leave fights unfinished." She started to walk off.

"Much as I hate to say it, the only seat left appears to be right here. Truce for the class?" Brian's voice drifted over her shoulder. She hated that he still didn't have almost any emotion, except maybe a touch of amusement, in his voice.

She dropped her bag on the floor and sat, not saying a word to him. Class crawled by. When the bell finally rang, she bolted out to talk to her friends before the fight. Brian just finished his page, put his bookmark in, and walked out.

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Author's note, version 1.1

And so the first chapter ends. Please tell me what you think, whether I should actually describe the fight (WARNING: I love to write fight scenes, so unless basically every person who reviews tells me i shouldn't, strenuously, and there are at least thirty of you, I probably will anyway), if I should keep going, if I should stop, if it is so horrible I should commit seppeku, anything. Please use correct spelling and grammar if you want me to read a word of what you write.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N, version 2.0

I got a whopping total of one review. Oh well. Here's to you, my lone reviewer. The consensus on the fight scene… wait and find out.

Sam jogged to her locker and pulled it open. She pulled her bag in front of her and emptied it of anything that mattered to her, consisting of six or seven low-fat fatcakes and a banged up notebook. She dumped what was left of her school books in the space left, and shut her locker just as Carly and Freddie got there. Carly laughed. "Woah, slow your roll girl. Why're you hurrying? You never do that."

Sam shrugged as she shrugged her backpack back over her shoulder. "I got some bid'ness to take care of."

Freddie raised an eyebrow. "Legal or Illeagal?"

Sam laughed at him. "Respect oriented."

He sighed. "So definitely ill"

"Probably Freddici. Now if you'll excuse me, Mama has an appointment to keep." Exit Sam. The duo left behind glanced at each other.

Carly asked "We're following her, aren't we?"

Freddie started walking. "Is that even a question?"

Carly laughed as she ran a few steps to catch up with him.

Brian was already behind the cafeteria, leaning against the wall next to the dumpster. Reading. He didn't bother to look up when he heard the footsteps, just pulled his bookmark from somewhere in the back pages and slid it into place, then closing _Lady Knight_ and sliding it carefully into a pocket. As he was doing this, Sam and Freddie arrived on scene.

"Wait, the new guy? What 'bid'ness' could you possibly have to do with this kid? He hasn't even been here a full day yet." Carly was almost laughing. Freddie was just suspicious.

"A fight." Came the calm answer from Brian. He shrugged out of his coat of many pockets, oblivious to the stares he was receiving.

"You." Freddie sounded like he was strangling a laugh. "You're going to fight her?"

"Dude, she knocked out a trucker with a _carton of milk_. She has her bag now. You don't have a chance." Carly was trying to avoid tragedy.

"Well then, it's a good thing I'm not a trucker, and she doesn't have a carton of milk. But hey, she has her mind made up. At least this way, the teachers don't have to find out." Brian folded his coat up and laid it on the dumpster. "If you could avoid that, I'd appreciate it."

Sam was staring at him. She was used to people either dismissing her as a weakling, or quivering in fear. This… this was new. "Dude, I'm not gonna stop if it'll do something to your coat. But I won't go after it for no reason, kay?"

"Sweet." He rolled his shoulders, and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Anytime you're ready." He stood there, relaxed with his hands in his pockets and his thumbs sticking out, waiting for her to do something.

She swung her bag at him, and he took a step to the left. The bag missed him by inches. She snarled and swung it back. He stepped back, and added some force with his right hand. It smacked her in the shoulder. She growled and dropped the bag in favor of swinging at his face. He twisted to the side and poked her in the back of the neck. She swiveled in disbelief at the kid, and he just stood there. No attacking, just… standing there. And he wasn't hurt yet. That was truly unusual.

"What, you're done already?" He called across at her. Freddie and Carly looked at each other in disbelief. Taunting Sam was a slower method of suicide; everyone knew that! Then again, her supernatural strength didn't seem to be helping a whole lot. This might actually not be so bad.

Sam was getting angrier by the second. Not only could she not seem to actually hit this guy, he refused to hit back. Just stood there, not getting hit through one method or another. He even kept his hands in his pockets for the most part. Something about that just infuriated her. "Stand still and fight like a man, dammit!"

"Hmmm, no, I don't think I will. You're welcome to stop this at anytime though." Brian's voice managed to do the one thing nobody thought possible, and make her even angrier. It managed to be completely calm, and yet contain a hint of amusement. It didn't seem like it ever left.

In the red haze that seemed to envelope her brain, she just needed to hurt him, physically or otherwise. Anything to break that stupid calm voice and lilt of amusement. "I think I might do just that." She said through gritted teeth. She ran to the dumpster, grabbing her bag on the way. Before he could figure out what she was doing, she'd pulled it behind her head, and slammed the weight of three textbooks and about five dollars in loose change into his neatly folded and stuffed jacket.

Something sparked in his eyes. "You said you wouldn't do that." His voice sounded calm, but it was soft and had lost it's amused lilt.

She laughed. Finally, a reaction! "Yeah well, I say a lot of things. Doesn't mean I actually mean them."

"Do you have any idea what kind of stuff I keep in there?" His voice was still dangerously quiet.

"Don't know, don't care." Sam was dismissive and grinning. This was her game, making people loose any control they had. He had been more of a challenge than most, but all it took was finding the right button to push.

"My flash drive. CD's. DVD's. Games. And most importantly, my books. You don't ever, _ever, EVER_ damage my books on purpose. Smash my nose, I'll be fine. My books, that's a different case entirely." His voice had been raised, and his hands came out of his pockets and started flexing. "Now, if you apologize, I won't be forced to do something that I'll regret once I calm down."

Sam laughed in his face and swung at him again. He twisted again, but grabbed her arm and helped her keep going with a pull and a lifted shoulder. She smacked into the pavement, dazed, with him standing over her. She shook her head and stood up, elated despite a ringing in her head. At least he was fighting back now. She swung again. He twisted and kneed her in the stomach.

A flurry of movement later, she was sitting with her legs sprawled in front of her. He had one of her arms twisted awkwardly behind her back with his shin keeping it in place and pressing her torso forward. His arms were around her neck, not quite cutting off her breathing, but profoundly uncomfortable. Carly and Freddie gasped at this, never having seen anything like this happening to Sam. It was usually the other way around, and not this bad.

"Now" a velvet voice drifted to Sam's ear, "Are you going to apologize and never do it again, or do things get worse."

She growled at him and smacked him weekly with her free hand, then gasped as his arms tightened on her neck for a second, making her see stars. "Ne…ve…r" She gasped out. The arms tightened longer, and black started encroaching on her vision.

A/N, version 2.1

I'd write more, but I'm out of time. I always love daily updates, so I'm going to try to give them to you. This might mean some shorter chapters, but I'll try to always have something for you. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I like it. Review please?


	3. Chapter 3

A/N version 3.0

Continued thanks to my faithful reviewer. Yes, that is in fact singular. Folks, if you wouldn't mind getting on the ball and reviewing when you read something? I hate to sound like someone preaching, and I'll keep writing regardless, but it is an awful lot of work to post these daily, and when I get one review, it isn't particularly fun. We'll see. Anyway, here's chapter three.

Sam got a sudden surge of oxygen and the black receded. She gasped for breath as Carly and Freddie pried his arms off of her neck. They weren't giant arms, but they were rock hard and Carly and Freddie weren't the strongest kids ever. It took every muscle in their bodies to pull the two arms off. Sam coughed a few times while Carly took the time to scream at Brian.

"YOU COULD HAVE _KILLED _HER! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, YOU BASTARD?!"

The screams brought Brian close enough to reality to realize what he was doing. He took a few deep breaths and pushed himself off of the ground, the two teens still holding onto his arms.

Freddie's yelling didn't quite classify as screaming, but it was far from calm. "Were you thinking at all? You didn't even try to do anything else, you just choked her! What kind of person chokes in a fight anyway?"

Brain looked at both of the hysterical teenagers. "You should probably be more worried about helping your friend right now. I am sorry, but apologies should probably wait until we're sure she's going to be fine." Carly thought about it for half a second, then dropped his arm. Freddie was already helping Sam over to the wall, where she could lean against it. Carly hurried over to help with what she could. Brian walked over to his jacket and unfolded it. He started checking through the pockets. Carly glanced over, and hissed at him "What? You're just going to check through your stuff while we make sure she isn't going to die because of you?"

"Yes. It's not like you are going to let me help, is it?" His voice oozed sarcasm, and Carly actually flinched. After his unbreakable calm and amusement with the world, this wasn't like what she'd seen of him. And when she thought for a second, he had a point. She wasn't likely to let him near Sam for a while after that. He continued a pocket by pocket inspection of the roughly twenty pockets inside of the jacket. He produced several broken DVD's, a few CD's, a crushed flash drive, a hardcover that had resisted damage somehow, and two paperbacks that were battered. His hands clenched for a second, then he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, forcing himself to release the death grip he had and calm down. Rage was not something he got over easily.

Sam meanwhile had recovered from her brief loss of air, and was trying to get up. She finally heaved herself to her feet. Without a word, she staggered back into the building. Freddie and Carly followed.

"Hey" Carly turned to see Brian holding Sam's bag.

"Why do you have that?" She demanded angrily

"Chill, I just wanted to give it back. Here" He tossed it to her. She fumbled the catch and turned beet red as he laughed and she bent over to pick it up. She turned without a word and hurried after her best friends.

A/N version 3.1

Remember how I said there would be one up every night, but it might be really short? Hey, guess what. Review please? Cherry on top? Or pure sugar if you like that better.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N version 4.0

Sorry for the short chapter last time. You try having a wrestling match and decorating a Christmas tree and writing a lot. Here's chapter 4.

Sam was waiting at her locker. She had obviously tried to put her valuables back in her bag, to find out this was rather hard when she did not, in fact, have her bag. Freddie was saying something to her in a low voice, and she was just standing there. Carly handed her her bag, and Sam took it without a word, dumped her stuff in it and walked off.

"What's with her?" Freddie asked Carly.

"I think she's just a little shocked that she actually lost. I can't remember it ever happening before. And he's a nerd! What kind of nerd can fight like that? It's like her losing to you. No offense."

"None taken." Freddie was quite comfortable with Sam's views of him at this point.

"We should probably just give her some time. I bet she'll be fine by tomorrow." Carly didn't sound entirely certain, and Freddie frowned at her.

"If you say so Carly." Freddie was clearly still entertaining doubts, but Carly wasn't offended. Not when she was too.

Sam arrived at home. She didn't feel like talking to anyone, she didn't feel like doing anything. She didn't even feel like eating. She dragged the battered composition notebook out of her bag from under the fatcakes and flipped through the blurbs and entries until she came to a page with space left on it. She never started on a new page when there was space left; what was the point?

_Hey. So what's with this? I feel all weird. Not like, I'm gonna vomit, or pass out or anything like that, just… shakey. I dunno, okay? It's not something you can describe. Something about getting my butt kicked and almost dieing in a fight with a nerd. Next Freddie and Carly are gonna beat me up. Then what can I do? Fighting's all I'm good at. That and eating. Jesus, is someone going to beat me at that two? I'm not even pissed at him four beating me up; I'm not really mad at him at all. I'm not mad? Wait, what? I should be mad. He ticks me of, then I hit his coat. His COAT! It's a freaking piece of clothing. Oh good, I am mad. Then, just because he has some stuff in it that he DIDN'T TELL ME ABOUT, he goes ballistic and beats the crap out of me. If anything, it's his fault for not telling me about the stuff in his coat._

Sam sighed.

_No, that's not fare. He did ask me not to hit it, and I said I wouldn't. But more importantly, what'm I gonna do now? I can't just fight him again; he'd beat without breaking a sweat. I need to fix this, but how?_

Sam chuckled

:_Look at me ,expecting an answer from you. How stupid is that? But, I do feel better. Maybe you're good for something after all. _

She sketched a blonde girl giving a swirly to a brunette. And him getting strangled. It made her happier.

_Well, I should go. Bye bye._

Sam closed her notebook and shoved it back into her bag. She pulled a fatcake out and started munching. The bag went over her shoulder, and she went off to Carly's.

"Heya Carls" Sam called as she walked through the door and over to the fridge. "What's happening?" She pulled out a plate of ham, and walked over to the cutting board to pull out a knife.

Carly was shocked. "You walk away without talking, and you just nonchalantly walk in here like nothing happened?"

"Well, yeah. Stupid bone!" Sam managed to excise the bone left over in the ham. It was enormous. Somebody at the ham factory wasn't doing their job. These things were supposed to be boneless.

"You're not listening to me are you?" Carly asked, exasperated.

"Does she ever?" Freddie walked down the last set of stairs. Sam stopped talking. She had figured he was here, but it was good to confirm it. She walked over and whispered something in his ear.

Freddie's eyes looked like saucers, saucers filled with fear. "No, no, I'll leave, bye!" and ran for the door.

As it slammed, Carly looked at Sam. "What did you tell him?"

Sam sniffed. "That we had to talk about girl stuff. Involving tampons." She sniffed again.

"Why would you tell him that? You told me your period-"

"I just wanted to get rid of him. I… I need to talk to you." And Sam started to cry.

Carly was shocked. Sam never cried. She got hurt, and she got back, but she NEVER cried. It was like the sun rising in the south and setting in the east. It just didn't happen.

After telling Carly basically what she told her diary earlier Carly sat and thought for a second. "Well, you are wrong about one thing. He may be a nerd, but he is definitely stronger than me or Freddie. When we had to pull him off you, his biceps were like steel! You might be as strong as him, but neither of us is. And besides, he didn't really beat you with strength. He just does it differently than you do." Her eyes lit up.

Sam's eyes had dried by now, though she still let out an occasional sniffle. "I don't like that look in your eyes. That's your 'I have a really good idea, trust me it's not as crazy as it's about to sound' look"

"Well-l-l-l, I was thinking, if you want to get better at fighting, we do know one person who could teach you."

"Who?" Sam jumped up and almost bounced with excitement. "Who could teach me to fight better?"

"Brian."

Sam instantly stopped bouncing. "You're kidding right?" Carly didn't say anything. "Carly, he could have KILLED ME. He almost did make me pass out. And you want me to walk up to him and ask him to teach me to fight? What kind of chiz are you smoking?"

"Look Sam, I know it sounds crazy, but when you think about it, it didn't seem like he wanted to hurt you until you screwed with his stuff. He didn't even hit you until you did something he explicitly asked you not to do. Yeah, he did act like a prick, but he's also the only one who can teach you this around here. Plus, if you do it this way, the only people who have to know are us four. And me and Freddie can be with you until we're certain he won't hurt you, and we won't make that decision lightly."

Sam started to say something, then shut her mouth. After a couple seconds, she let out her breath. "I still think it's a bad idea, but sure. I'll talk to him tomorrow."

"Yeah, but I think it's best we're all there when we set it up. We can do it before homeroom tomorrow. I'll tell Freddie." The brunette was out the door and across the hall before Sam could blink. Something was off there, but Sam put it out of her head. She had better things to worry about. Like surviving her 'lessons'.

Sam stood anxiously at her locker. Carly and Freddie were late. They had been late a couple of times of course, but never simultaneously and never this late. And never on a day this important! Now that she'd agreed to ask Brian to teach her, she wanted it over with. Or at least set up so she didn't have to worry about it.

Carly and Freddie ran around the corner and got their lockers open, grabbed their books and shut the doors. The three of them started the power walk that was the fastest you could go in the school halls.

"Where were you two? You're never this late!" Sam glared daggers at her friends.

Freddie blushed slightly. Sam didn't see him through Carly though. "Spencer's car had a little trouble. When we got it to start, we had lost some time." Carly said.

"Alright. Now hurry up, We gotta set this up before class starts." Sam said, and sped up.

A/N version 4.1

Whew. A decent chapter this time. Anyway, ten bucks to the reviewer who predicts any plot element accurately. Now go enjoy Christmas. This is kinda stretching the every night though, isn't it?


	5. Chapter 5

A/N version 5.0

Wow. Chapter five. And things have become more like a good story than I thought. Well, here's my Christmas chapter.

Sam barreled through the door and looked around for the infuriating boy. And he sat, just like yesterday, in the seat right in front of where she did. Reading. Though today it was _Terrier_, still by Tamora Pierce. She hadn't read that one, though she heard it was really good. But how had he already finished yesterday's book? It's not like there was an incredible amount of time between when he left and today. He was only half-way done yesterday.

Sam shook her head and grabbed the two out of breath teenagers behind her and dragged them over to his seat. "Dipwad." She said, standing over him.

He looked up from his page. "Hmm?"

Carly and Sam had agreed that Carly would deal with the negotiations. "Look, why did you beat her up yesterday? You could have killed her!" Carly's voice was still quiet; none of the three wanted word of this to get out.

Brian looked down, put his bookmark in and carefully placed it in one of his pockets. Once he trusted his voice, he looked up at her. "Look, I didn't want to. I was just going to go there, let her swing at me till she got tired of it, and leave, no hard feelings between us. But… When someone messes with my stuff, I get really mad. Like, logic goes out the window I-am-legit-going-to-hurt-you-until-you-don't-think-of-doing-that-again angry. I do a lot of things I'm not proud of then. I think I broke one kid's arm, and made a football player cry once. I am sorry Sam, but there was a reason I asked you not to hit my jacket. I keep most of the stuff that's important to me in there."

He didn't mention the shame. He took karate lessons, and learned that you don't use it to take advantage of someone. But when he snapped… Bad things happened. Those weren't all of it, but he had gotten a lot better at controlling it since then. The fact that it happened at all ate at him, and every time it happened, he went plummeting into a state where he lashed out verbally at everyone near him. He truly was a jackass, and it wasn't someone he wanted to be. So he hid it, and stayed away from people till he could put his usual pathetic nerd mask back on.

Sam slowly nodded. "I kinda understand. I get mad a lot… sometimes I do more than I mean to. But they usually deserve it, so whatever."

Brian smiled slightly, just a tiny curve of the corner of his mouth. "I thought you would. You don't seem like the most restrained of all people." He looked around. "You wanted something else, didn't you? You wouldn't have barreled in here just for that."

Carly took a deep breath. "Brian, would you be willing to teach Sam how you fight?"

Brian snorted. "That's it? Yeah sure. If she wants to."

All eyes turned to Sam. "Yes. I do"

Brian smiled. "Cool. I'll see what I can set up for a mat, and tell you what's set up during English."

Sam stared at him. It was that easy? There had to be a catch.

He read through Mr. Henning's boring spiel about the water cycle until the bell rang. He was gone as soon as the bell stopped. Sam was amazed she had never seen anyone vanish so fast.

School was boring until math again. She listened while Freddie and Carly talked to each other, mostly about their English teacher's mistakes the class before. They weren't lucky enough to get Mechmann, so they felt no need to be respectful. Freddie was much better at talking to Carly then he was when they first met. He no longer came off as creepy or obsessive, he was just her friend. Sam did smirk thinking about how steamed Freddie must have been after he realized he couldn't get his first kiss from his one true love.

The day dragged on past the relatively boring lunch since Carly had to get extra help from one of the teachers, and he wouldn't be available after school. Freddie was boring, but even he was gone, eating in the A/V room for some nerd project. Sam hadn't paid attention. Even he would be better than nothing. At least one of her good friends would be there then.

She sat bolt upright. Since when did she think of FREDDIE as a good friend? He was her enemy, or at best her frenemy. The lunch bell rang, and she left for her second to last class. Late lunch sucked, more so without her friends to make it tolerable.

She got to English early to ask the teacher about what kind of book they were supposed to read for class, and if it had to be anything specific. "It just has to be something you haven't read before. You need to have a parent sign off on that." She was told, right before Brian came in and gestured that she should come talk to him. Sam hurriedly broke off.

"I got us the wrestling room for Sunday, anytime we want it. We just have to call ahead to tell the janitor when we'll be there. When's good for you?"

Sam gulped. Sunday was a bit sooner than she was hoping for. "I'm free all day. How about we start around noon?"

"Aight. Come dressed to work out. I advise shorts and a tank top with sweats over it. It's hard to learn some of this stuff in baggy clothes, but you'll need to work out to develop some of the muscles."

She laughed. "I don't have a problem with muscles. They're plenty developed."

He smiled. "Really?" He took a deep breath and set his stomach. "Punch me in the stomach."

"Really? I punch pretty freaking hard."

"Not as hard as you can, but don't hold back too much."

"It's your funeral." She snapped her fist into his stomach, and bit back a curse as she met rock. "What the fuck?"

"Yeah, abs are a big part of it." He smiled. "Plus, I like being fit."

The bell rang. "Meet me there on Sunday. Bring your friends if you want."

"See you there."

A/N version 5.1

And it's all set up. For any of you still reading, but not reviewing, you are lucky I take promises seriously, even to random people who don't have the common courtesy to take the thirty seconds to say "Hey, I liked this part, I didn't like that part" But enjoy the chapter I used Christmas to write anyway.


	6. Chapter 6

The week flashed by. The trio were at their usual spot on Carly's couch, talking. Or in Freddie and Sam's case, bickering. The subject was, of course, her lesson tomorrow.

"We should both be there. He almost killed you last time!" Freddie told Sam.

"Yeah no. I can take care of myself dork. You managed a whole arm of his last time. How much help do you think you would be?" She shot at him.

"You managed to get choked. How is that any better?" He fired back.

It degenerated into a shouting match, until Carly reached under the couch and grabbed her well-worn squirt bottle. She didn't even have to use it any more; she just waved it in front of their faces. They broke off like well trained cats, if such a thing were possible.

"Sam, Freddie has a good point. He seems repentant, but nothing is guaranteed. We need to come with you at least once." Carly said calmly.

"But-"

"We're coming!"

"Alright, alright. Jeez, keep your shirt on, alright?" She didn't notice how Carly looked away from her for a second. "I'll deal with it tomorrow I guess. But after the first time, only Carly, got it? Then nobody, if he doesn't hurt me in a couple weeks."

"Sam, why are you so insistent on this? Why does it matter if me and Carly are there?" Freddie asked, exasperated.

"None of your business Freddork." She snapped, but her cheeks betrayed her by turning a light shade of pink.

"Wait a second… You're blushing!" Freddie crowed, smirking triumphantly.

"No I'm not." Sam said, blushing even more.

"Yes you are! Wait, you're embarrassed? You really are embarrassed just because we'll see you taking this lesson?" Freddie smirked triumphantly.

"Ugh, alright fine. It's bad enough you already saw me lose a fight to him. Do you really think I'd enjoy you watching me be a student of all things?" Sam complained.

"Sam, it's not really that bad. We won't be obvious. We'll just sit in a corner and watch. You won't even notice us."

She was actually going to be right, if not for the reason she thought.

Sam arrived at the gym late, as usual. It was almost 12:45 by the time she ambled into the gym, yawning. She was wearing sweats, as recommended, though she'd actually gone with short sleeves and shorts that went to below her knees.

The wrestling gym was only about twenty feet across the square. Brian was already there, sitting in the middle of the mat's anchored on the floor. Reading. Ridgeway made up for having a small wrestling room by having a nice wrestling room. The mats fit the floor perfectly, and the thermostat was right on the wall with easy adjust settings. The walls were also padded for about two feet from the ground.

Brian had looked up. "Sam, I know we said around noon, but last time I checked around was usually within fifteen minutes. For slow people. Forty-five is a bit much." He marked his place in the book, unfolded from sitting cross-legged without using his hands and walked over to the thermostat to put his book on top of it.

"One last thing before we start. Are you sure you want to do this?" He stopped her from talking. "Hear me out. I don't do things half-way. If you decide to do this, you will work hard. You will work until you throw up and fall on the ground. Then you will pick yourself up and work harder. The motto will be 'you pass out before you die'. But, at the end, you will be in the best shape of your life. And you will probably be able to defend yourself for all time against all people."

Sam took a deep breath. "Yes. I want to do this."

Brian smiled. "Good. Oh, and the other thing is, I'm not teaching you this if you think it's for hurting other people. It's to stop other people from hurting you, or anything important to you. You will have far better things to do than be a bully. Now." He turned to the thermostat, and held down the up button. She watched astonished as it moved from the comfortably warm 65 degrees, up into the 70's, then the 80's, finally settling at 90. He turned around. "Now, we'll start easy. Sprints. The other side of the room and back. Ten seconds between sprints. GO!"

"Seriously?" Sam asked.

"If you don't start now you get to do more. GO!" She went. He fiddled with the sound system, and Dropkick Murphy's started blasting out of the speakers set into the corners of the room.

The sprint's seemed to go on forever. Sam was sweating within seconds. The room was short enough that every time she got going she had to stop. Ten seconds was nothing. Her ears were ringing with the cry of GO! That started every sprint. The only thing that kept her going was the pounding beat of the music. She had wondered why he'd started it; no more.

"Stop! That's enough sprints." The voice started her, and she collapsed on the ground.

"Why are you lying down? Are you tired?"

"Of course I am! I've done like a million of those freaking sprints!" Sam said.

"Okay then. Do you want to stop?"

"Yes!"

"Good. Now you're doing push-ups."

"But I said I wanted to-"

"PUSH-UP POSITION **NOW**!" Sam groaned, but got into position.

"On my count! 1 2 3 4- no, like this" He got down and went down on one, up on two, down on three, and came up yelling one. "Now, if you go to your knees, we start over. If you stop, we start over. If you don't count, we start over. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"What was that?"

"Yes!"

"Good! 1 2 3…"

They kept going. Push-ups, sit-ups, leg-lifts. With no break longer than thirty seconds. At ninety degrees.

"Stop!" Brian's voice rang out. "Go get a drink." He smiled wickedly. "The warm-up's over. Time to start teaching you." Sam's eyes lit up, and she dashed to get a drink so they could start the good part.

A/N version 6.0

This is based upon actual events from wrestling work outs. They suck. But they do get you in incredible shape.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N version 7.0

I am immensely happy that I now have a total of two people who have reviewed this. Thank you. It would be pretty nice if the number got a little higher though.

Sam gulped water from the fountain greedily. She must have sweated out a gallon or two! She wiped her hand across her mouth and noticed Carly and Freddie hurrying back towards the wrestling room. She honestly hadn't noticed them leaving. She snorted. Carly had actually been right. She hadn't noticed them in the room at all. Between the sweat running down her face, and sheer exhaustion, Brian's voice was the only thing entering into her music and work induced trance. "Hey guys." She called.

They started. "Sam? What are you doing out of the gym?" Carly asked.

"Water break. We just finished the workout apparently." Sam told her, grimacing as she walked. Her legs hadn't ever been this sore. "What were you two off doing?"

"Um, I was going to the bathroom." Carly said

"And I was checking on some equipment in the A/V room. See the-" Freddie was cut off.

"I don't need your tech nerd details Freddweeb. Just have a seat out of the way, we're about to start the fun stuff." She strode purposefully into the gym, ignoring her sore legs.

Brian sat on the floor, stretching. His legs were behind him and he was pressing on the floor, arching his back up. He noticed them coming in, and twisted onto his side and spun around to bring his legs in front of him. "First, ditch the sweats. They were to help in toning your body."

Sam did as he said, stripping off the sweatpants and sweatshirt to reveal shorts and short sleeves. They were both baggy, despite his reminder that they shouldn't be too loose. He didn't indicate he noticed. "Alright, now we stretch a bit."

Sam groaned. "Stretch? Why?"

He chuckled. He seemed to do that a lot at her expense. "well, unless you really feel like ripping a muscle apart, I recommend it. It really does make everything easier." It was just a couple of simple stretches. They swept through that very easily; Sam's muscles were very warm.

"Now, first thing is basic moves." Brian led Sam through a slightly different way of punching that involved the placement of the fist and a couple of kicks. How to dodge a punch without much movement. The theory of helping your opponent in the direction they were going.

"Alright, I'll show you a couple of moves, then we're done. Hey Freddie, would you mind coming here?"

"Me? Why?"

"Because I want to show these, not just use them on her." Freddie got up and cautiously walked over to where they were standing in the middle of the floor.

"Now, watch carefully. You might recognize this. Freddie, throw a punch slowly at my face."

Freddie obeyed, and in slow motion Sam watched as Brian's upper body twisted and he stepped his right foot back, pivoting on his left. Freddie's fist slid uselessly past his face. Both of Brian's hands came up, grabbing Freddie's wrist and twisting. Freddie's arm came up behind his own back, and was held there by one hand. Another reached up to Freddie's hair, grabbed it and pulled his head back, then wrapped an arm around his throat, elbow snug under the chin. He sank down, legs wide to bring Freddie into a completely helpless position.

"Now, from here," Brian said calmly, "I can either twist further and break his arm, or squeeze and choke him. I could also go farther down and dump him on his butt, like I did to you." He demonstrated, backing up and going down. "Then, if you do it fast you can switch your arm for a shin and do this." He demonstrated, switching the arm around and putting his hand on the back of Freddie's head, and grabbing his bicep with the arm around his neck. "Then you can just flex and push down, and hey look at that. No airflow, no blood flow. They usually pass out in about a minute with moderate pressure." He let Freddie go. "Now you get to try on me." Freddie left gratefully. Carly motioned, and they left. Sam waved just before she tried the move on Brian.

The group fell into a pattern. After a few weeks, Freddie, then Carly stopped coming to the Sunday and Thursday lessons (they also had workouts on Tuesday and Saturday). Sam and Brian started talking books, and Brian was enough of a nerd to talk about some tech stuff with Freddie. They started having lunch together, though Brian read through most of it, occasionally throwing in a comment or opinion, usually getting a laugh.

One Sunday, Sam got out of her lesson early, and Brian offered to give her a ride over to Bushwell. It turned out he actually lived a few floors up from them, and he offered to wait in the hall to make sure she got in and everything was fine. It was a good thing he did.

A/N version 7.1

Sorry for the cliffhanger, but it happens to be a quarter till eleven, and i need to be up at six tomorrow. I'll try to update earlier than usual tomorrow, to at least get the big revelation out of the way, though i bet some of you have already guessed it.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N version 8.0

Be thankful for this chapter. I've been at a wrestling tournament for twelve straight hours, and I have to be at practice at eight forty-five. Oh, and this chapter will dip into 1st person. I'll label the points of view.

Sam walked down the hallway towards Carly's apartment, thinking about the guy waiting at the end to make sure she was alright. It was sweet, though she thought it was unnecessary. The lock picks in her back pocket meant she could get in, and she could handle anything that could be thrown at her. Especially since she was learning from him.

**Sam's POV**

_These lessons were way better than I thought they'd be. I mean, Brian made it sound like they were going to be torture. Just because I run for miles and do more exercise in an hour than I used to do in a month (besides beatings) doesn't make it torture. Okay, yeah it does. And that part really sucks. But the stuff he's teaching is really cool, and I'm in better shape than I've ever been._ There were some noises coming from behind the door, but I couldn't really tell what they were. And, to be honest, I wasn't really caring. I opened the door, and shouted "Hey guys! What's-" Then stopped, as Carly and Freddie tried to inconspicuously remove their tongues from each other's throats. Not to mention pretend Carly wasn't sitting ON FREDDIE'S LAP. I mean, seriously, WTF?

**General POV**

Sam stared at Freddie and Carly. Freddie and Carly stared at Sam. "You're here early." Carly said, voice shaking.

"Yeah. I guessed you didn't expect me yet from the fact that you were in the middle of sucking each other's faces off." Sam said, sarcasm practically oozing to the floor.

"Sam, we can explain." Freddie started, but Sam cut him off.

"You can EXPLAIN?" Sam exploded. "You can explain that I come here to find my two best friends, including the one who FREAKED OUT that I kissed Freddie ONCE, for SEVEN SECONDS, making out as if they have had a LOT of experience. Didn't SOMEBODY say something about NOT KEEPING ANY SECRETS? I can't possibly imagine why I was so stupid as to believe you thought the restrictions you put on me apply to either of you two." Her ranting was easily loud enough to be heard down the hall, but Brian decided he really shouldn't get involved. He did move to the door, both to watch and to make sure there was no physical harm.

Freddie finally interrupted. "Sam, this is why we didn't tell you. We knew you'd overreact, and scream, and frankly we didn't know you knew to stop before you caused bodily injury. Carly isn't exactly the toughest girl, and you could probably snap her like a twig."

Sam's expression dropped from rage into… nothing. "Carly, you really think I would hurt you? Ever?"

Carly squirmed a bit. "Well… yeah."

Sam turned and walked out of the room. Brian caught the expression on her face as she left, and grabbed her arm. "Come with me. I just need to grab a couple things, and we can go work out in the park. I think you need to do something before you really do hurt someone." He pulled her into the elevator and hit the button for his floor. "So, what was that about you kissing Freddie?"

Sam blushed slightly. "You heard all of that?"

"Sam, I'm pretty sure my friends in Jersey heard that, You weren't exactly being quiet."

"Yeah. Well. Can we not talk about that right now?"

"Sure"

The elevator dinged, and they stepped out. Brian reached into his coat and pulled the keys out of a small pocket up by his collar. "Come on in. There're fat cakes on the table in the kitchen. Just grab one or two, and I'll grab the pads and stuff we need for the workout. Do you still have your sweats with you?"

Sam answered through a mouth full of fat cake. "Yeah, there in my bag. They're kinda sweaty, but hey, they're sweats. What else are they for?"

He laughed. "Good point. C'mon, grab one for the road and let's get going. We'll run to the park, do a lap or two around, and then we can work on some of your kickboxing. I don't see the grappling moves doing it for you right now."

They left for the park.

"So, why are you so mad about this anyway? I mean, he's always liked her, he's not an incredibly unattractive dude, she hasn't dated in a while. It's not completely unexpected."

They were in the park, true to his word. He'd brought the MMA pads; Rectangular pads the length of his forearm that could be used for punches or kicks. She'd already been taught what the different configurations meant, so he could just hold them and she whacked.

"It's not really that simple. I mean, yeah, since he hit puberty and all he's gotten better looking and all that, and she is pretty lonely I think, but that isn't really it. I mean, I kiss Freddie, no tongue, not making out, just getting the first kiss over with, for seven seconds, and she screeches and accuses me of being a horrible friend for not telling her. We even made a pact, that we wouldn't keep any secrets from each other. None. Pardon me for thinking that shoving your tongue down our mutual friend's throat is something I should be told about." She slammed her leg hard enough into the pads near Brian's head to make him stagger slightly. "And that isn't even the worst of it. She thinks I would hurt her. I might hurt Freddie, but not too bad. I'd hurt you, but only because you've proven you can give as good as you can get. Or better. But Carly? I couldn't hurt her. Ever. It'd be like me hurting frothy, or you hurting Carly. It just can't happen." She threw one last quick combination, and Brian lowered the pads.

"Better?" He asked.

"Yeah. Hey, do you wanna have a match? I want to see how much better I've gotten."

Brian thought for a second. "Eh. Sure, why not? I've got a couple of mats in my apartment. I'm sure we can find a place to spread them out." His eyes lit up. "Oh! How about the roof? We could even put in cheesy kung-fu movie dialogue!"

Sam grinned. "That'd be fun. Let's do it."

They packed up and jogged back to the building.

A/N version 8.1

I really need to stop with these ridiculously late updates. Anyway, next chapter is probably going to be almost entirely fuffly. No, that's not a typo, i just think fuffly sounds better then fluffy. Anyway, Sorry about the one AM upload, but deal with it. Wouldn't it be amusing if I started getting floods of reviews complaining about this. (Please note: That was sarcastic. I would love reviews, but please don't complain about upload times. I don't think people would do it, but when you suggest something, you have to be clear. also, if you do have any complaints, I invite you to stay up past midnight after being at a wrestling tournament, and instead of sleeping before the practice that actually resembles the workout I described, write a chapter just because you said you would. Clear?) It should be up a bit earlier tomorrow, seeing as how I shouldn't be away until ten. 1000 words in three hours, especially with a distracting internet really isn't that bad.


	9. Chapter 9

"Fool! You are no match for my epic lion tiger fatcake style of death!" said Sam, standing in the most exaggerated kung-fu stance seen ever.

"Ha! We'll see about that! Now, prepare for battle! Hiya!" Brian launched a flying side kick, the kind he had told Sam you should never, ever use because it is so ridiculously easy to dodge. She smacked it away and punched towards his face. His hand grabbed her arm mid punch, and assisted his leg in smacking her into the mats they were standing on. Her body arched, her weight on the small of her back, and a hand grabbed his leg, spinning her into his legs. Her left foot snapped into the back of his knees, and the right pulled out his right leg. He collapsed almost on top of her. They had decided not to mix grappling and kickboxing after they both hit the floor. They didn't need any more bruises then they were going to get anyway.

They maneuvered for a while, until finally she got a choke on him. He resisted for a second, than tapped out. She stood up and grabbed his hand to help him up. They set up for another go.

Punches and kicks flashed through the air. Sam had been practicing for a couple months now, and when you practice basically the same things a couple million times cumulatively, you get pretty good at them. They spouted random lines at each other, grinning through the sweat. They even did a cheesy kick where their shins hit each other. Then they hopped around on one leg cursing. It turns out that actually hurts pretty badly.

It was something like their seventh round, and it was a tie breaker. They'd already been going for a full minute, and they hadn't hit the ground yet. Sam managed to smash her fist into his belly. It had enough force behind it, and good enough aim to hit hard where the bulk of his abs weren't. He staggered, and she moved in for a take down. He pivoted, letting her go past him and collapsing on top of her back. She grunted, but didn't fall. He spun to her side, snaked an arm around her head and near arm and grabbed her ankle with the other. The cradle came quickly, and Sam admitted the pin but only because she literally couldn't move. He got up and offered her a hand, and the world snapped.

There wasn't really a better way to describe it. Something abruptly changed, and she saw things differently. She was conscious of everything, the night air across her skin, the throbbing of her shoulder blades where they impacted the mat, the faint smell of sweat and something else that drifted through the air, the sound of the pigeons and breathing. The sight of Brian standing over her, arm outstretched, moonlight illuminating his face, and shining off of the coating of sweat on his skin. It was as if she was seeing everything for the first time. She saw him as a guy, not as Brian. It wasn't something easy to describe at all.

"Sam? Sam!" She started and realized she had been lying there for way too long. She reached up and grabbed his hand, then reached over to grab his ankle. Before he knew what she was doing, he was on the ground roughly next to her.

"Let's stay down for a while. Does your mom know where we are?" Sam asked, wriggling a little to get her shoulder blade out of a crack on the mat.

"Yeah. I actually come up here a lot. I love high places. And low places. She knows I'll come in when I'm hungry, and I'm not stupid enough to fall off." They laid there for a while, just staring at the stars and wrapped in their own thoughts. Silence enveloped the roof top. Even the wind had quieted down, though it hadn't died down completely.

"Are you still mad at them?" Sam could feel Brian's eyes on her, but she didn't bother to roll over to look at him. And she definitely didn't ned him to clarify who "Them" were.

"Kinda. I mean, it's not really angry any more. I'm not happy they hid it from me, but I'll probably get over it. And to be honest, I'm doing something fun. At least I have other things to occupy my time with." She grinned. "Like kicking your butt."

"I'll have you know I hold back on you. Just like everybody else. It wouldn't be fun if it was too hard for either of us. Hey, you need a place to crash? I know you usually sleep at Carly's and all."

"I'm pretty sure your parents, regardless of how cool they are, would be okay with a girl sleeping over."

He shrugged. "We have a guest room, and theirs is right next to it. It's not like we'd be in the same room or anything. Did I tell you about these little tablets I found that make water taste like fatcakes?"

She struggled for a second, but the allure of not having to go all the way back to her house or deal with Carly and Freddie was irresistible when combined with fatcake flavored water. "Fine. We'll see what your Ma says." They headed down the stairs to his apartment.

A/N version 9.0

Hey remember how I said this was going to be fuffly and early? One out of two's pretty good.


	10. Chapter 10

"Of course she can stay here for the night." Sam stared at Mrs. Jol in shock.

"You're seriously going to let me stay here? Without knowing me at all?"

Mrs. Jol looked surprised. "Certainly. Brian trusts you, and it's much too late to send you all the way across town by yourself. Brian will show you where the extra sheets are, and he can make the pull-out in the family room. Go to sleep whenever you're tired."

Sam stared in shock. "You're mom is something else." She told Brian.

"Yeah, she is pretty awesome. Hey, let's make the bed for you." They grabbed a set of dark red sheets, setting up a surprisingly large pullout bed from the couch in front of the TV. It was actually more comfy than the bed Sam slept in at home, especially given that that one had cost about fifteen bucks at a yard sale and was probably too old to be sold to an antique shop.

"Before you get ready for bed, I want to show you something." Brian grabbed her wrist and towed her to the elevator. She smiled. It was nice to see such enthusiasm. It reminded her of the puppies she would see in the park, so dedicated to impressing everyone. She was inexplicably glad he was trying to impress her.

It turned out his apartment was actually above Carly's apartment, and used the same elevator shaft. She'd seen two floors, the living and sleeping floors essentially, but he hit the middle button. The elevator sank a floor from the sleeping floor, and dinged. Brian was practically vibrating with excitement to show her whatever it was. The elevator doors slid open, and she gasped. The entire floor was filled with book shelves.

That was her first impression. It turned out there was also a tech corner, with several computers, and docks for two different laptops. One for him, one for his dad he told Sam. But the books were what really kept her attention. He didn't even need to look at the convenient signs for the genres and authors, he just knew where they were. He had an entire shelf dedicated to Tamora Pierce, with literally every book she had written. He had an impressive Sci-Fi collection as well, with an entire row of books by David Weber, and many of the classics. There were westerns, murder mysteries, comedy, even a small section with religious texts. There were authors like Weber, Pierce, Asimov, Jordan, Clarke, Heinlein, Asprin, Nix, and McCaffery. There was also a nook (there really is no better way to describe it) in a special corner recessed into the wall with beanbags, as well as a recliner and a leather chair Sam could curl up and be entirely contained on its single large cushion. The lights were set up so that they could be arranged to shine on the books regardless of what position you were in.

Sam turned around, taking it all in, and faced Brian. "This is amazing! How many books do you guys have?"

He shrugged, grinning inanely. "I dunno. We never really got around to counting all of them. If you're careful, you're welcome to borrow from it. Or just come over and read."

Sam flung herself at him in a hug. "This is amazing! This is like when Carly said I could have anything in her fridge, only it'll last longer!"

He gently removed her arms, though he still felt where they'd been. "That reminds me, here." He rummaged in a pocket, then pulled out a packet about the size of a Gushers pack and tossed it to her.

She caught it, and as she read the front her eyes widened. "You were serious when you said fat cake flavored water, and it's portable? This is awesome!"

"Yeah well. My mom likes it because it isn't quite as unhealthy as an actual fat cake." He jammed his hands in his pants' pockets, the only ones that they fit in easily. "Grab a book or I can suggest one. That or get ready for bed." Sam darted over to the Fantasy shelves and scanned the books.

"How about you pick one?"

"Fine." He walked over and pulled out _The Eye of the World_, by Robert Jordan. "See what you think about this. There's enough books in that series to keep you going for a while."

She dropped into a bean bag chair and curled up to read, opening the well worn paperback and turning to the prologue. Brian pulled out a random McCaffery and settled into the leather chair to read. He kept getting distracted though. He ended up watching Sam read. It wasn't like he hadn't read _The Skies of Pern_ a dozen times already. He noticed how she tilted her head and pulled her hair back while resting the book on the chair, such as it was. The slight wrinkle in her forehead when she got to an interesting part, and her open laughter when she thought something was funny.

He shook his head. Nothing could come of this. He was her teacher, and she was, well, Sam. Besides, he could tell she liked someone already. He didn't have enough going for him to make any normal person like him, let alone someone as awesome as Sam. He got up and returned the book to the shelves. "We should probably get ready for bed. It's almost midnight."

She looked up. "But we just started."

"Last time I checked, that didn't affect whether or not the sun rises in five or six hours. And we have school tomorrow."

"So? I don't need that much sleep."

"And? That much sleep was if we started a couple hours ago."

They headed to their respective beds. It was a long time before either one fell asleep.

A/N version 10.1

I'll probably do what they were thinking about as part of tomorrow's installment. But seriously guys, would you mind just dropping a review? It takes a couple clicks, I don't even care it you write a single word, just something darn it. It'd be nice to know someone actually reads this from something other than the traffic reports, not that those aren't nice.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N version 11.0

So for various reasons these will be in Sam and Brian POVs. However, they will not be in first person, largely because I feel like writing them differently. Some of you (By which I mean the sole reviewer who has left multiple reviews, for which I am eternally grateful) have basically asked who I'm shipping. The short answer? I have no F***ing idea. Also, warning: severe jackassery and some bad language.

Sam

This… This isn't what I expected. I just wanted to learn to fight better. Now I'm sleeping on a bed that's actually a couch after spending basically all day and a lot of the night with him. Is that a date? NO. No. It was just a workout, and the fact that we are spending time alone together four days a week doesn't mean anything.

Grr! Why am I thinking of this anyway. It's like one AM and I'm lying in bed thinking about some guy. I'm gonna have to break his leg or something tomorrow for keeping me awake. I never was the girl who was in bed thinking of that one dude. Then again, there're are worse guys to think about. He's smart, strong, can kick ass, isn't awkward or scared around me, and shares my interests. Not to mention an awesome library.

Oh yeah. He did almost kill me. But hey, whatever. It's not like I haven't flipped out on people and done really bad stuff to them. He's just better at it than I am. And who else can I hang with? Carly and Freddie, the newest couple that never should have been? It's not like they had exactly won her over, but hey. I'll be nice. I'll stop with their fingers.

And with that, she fell into an uneasy slumber.

Brian

She's my student darn it. She obviously doesn't want more than what she actually asked for, lessons. She was pissed enough about her friends she obviously had designs on one of them. I'm pretty sure it's Freddie, but I'm not quite willing to rule out Carly herself. Eh, whatever. But seriously, she's dedicated, strong, willing to beat on anybody she doesn't' like, still dealing with me after I choke her until she almost passed out, oh, and she's pretty hot too.

And I have to offer her basically what she already has. She's learned basically everything I have to teach her. Besides, she really needs to make up with her friends. They're much more fun than I am.

I mean, it's not like she has anything in common with me. And besides, I don't have anything approaching the social skills to keep her interest for more than a couple more days. Heck, I'm not even sure why she doesn't find one of those nice, handsome, jocks that girls always go for anyway. It doesn't matter what I feel.

Wait, what do I feel? Do I like her or what? Ok, yeah I do. But I'll have to deal with it anyway.

Brian was staring at the ceiling for what seemed like hours before he fell asleep.

General

Sam woke up to the ding of the elevator. Brian slouched over to the kitchen opposite the family room and pulled out a box of corn flakes, and a box of cheerios. The cereal concoction looked interesting. She yawned, scratched her stomach, and got up to get some. Brian looked over at her, and his eyes narrowed to slits. That was when Sam realized she was wearing an undershirt and boxer shorts. And nothing else. She shrugged. Nothing she could change now.

"Really Sam? I kinda assumed you'd where something else. Like a bra. Unless you were thinking of doing something else last night…"

Sam blushed. "Is that really what you think of me?"

"Eh. I didn't before, but considering you could maybe be more revealing in something from Victoria's Secret, I think you give off a subtle aroma of Eau de Whore."

She slapped him. He blinked, and poured the milk into his bowl and started eating. "You… You pig! I trusted you, and you do this? What, you think I wanted to do THAT with somebody?"

"No, I actually doubted you had picked out somebody specific. I figured you'd maybe stand in the elevator and decide on the best looking dude to come up. The real question is if you'd get out to a bed, or just hope nobody else got on the elevator." Sam stared at him in shock. "of course, that's assuming you don't just beat the shit out of him for no good reason. Maybe he'd compliment you and you'd break his legs for the insult." Sam's mouth was working, but she couldn't actually say anything. "Not that anyone would really care. It's not like anyone really likes you anyway. Your best friends are kissing at least, probably hooking up behind your back, and have obviously only been your friends because they're too scared of you to tell you otherwise. And from what I've seen and heard your mom doesn't give a shit about you, and your sister hates you. So yeah, of course you sleep almost naked in the house of the guy who beat you up. Brilliant." Sam's mouth had clenched and was trembling. Tears glistened in the corner of her eyes. She punched Brian in the mouth and rushed out. Brian rubbed his jaw, then resumed spooning cereal into his mouth.

A/N version 11.1

Yeah, I'm not really foreseeing a positive reaction to this chapter. But it is actually a major part of his personality. So yeah, just keep reading. Reviews please? Pretty please?


	12. Chapter 12

Sam stormed out of the apartment. She wavered, then got into the elevator and stabbed the button for Carly's floor. Much as she hated to see the girl again, but she couldn't go anywhere dressed like this. She shuddered, remembering the words casually thrown at her for those very clothes, from one of the few people she could trust. And for no real reason.

The elevator dinged. She walked slowly up to the door she had left so abruptly the day before, less than twelve hours ago. Had it really only been that long? The night had seemed so fun. And this morning, wasn't. She raised her hand to knock, then slowly rested her hand on the door. How was she supposed to do this? "Oh hey, yeah I still hate you, I just need a change of clothes because I left the dude's home too early because he called me a violent, lonely whore." She laughed bitterly. That didn't even sound good in her head. She took a deep breath-

And the door swung open. Spencer looked at her. "Hey kiddo. Um, is there a reason you're standing outside our door wearing underwear?"

Sam squirmed a little. "I kinda need to borrow some clothes, but I don't think Carly really wants to see me right now."

Spencer grinned. "As long as I get the full story, I'll lend you some. They'll probably be a bit big, but they'll cover you up." He motioned to her to follow as he went into the apartment.

"Thanks Spence. I don't know what I'd do without you." Sam said, relieved, as she walked into the apartment.

Once she was wearing a shirt that was probably five sizes too big for her, and a skirt that needed a belt (Spencer told her not to ask questions), Spencer asked why she couldn't talk to Carly.

"I… I kinda flipped out on her and Freddie. Like, really bad. And she said something that hurt really bad."

"Wait a second. You flipped out on Carly AND Freddie? Why both of them?"

"Mostly because it was both of them making me flip out."

Spencer looked quizzical, but decided to find out what they were doing later. "Then what did Carly, the girl who never hurts anyone on purpose, say that hurt you really bad?"

Sam looked down. "She… she thought I would hurt her."

Spencer was in shock. "Carly said that?"

"Yeah" it was just above a whisper.

"Well. That does explain just about everything. Except…"

"What?"

"What were they doing that made you flip out?"

"Well…" Sam hesitated.

"What?"

"They were making out. Pretty intensely."

Spencer stared at her. The silence lasted long enough Sam started to get uncomfortable.

Finally, Spencer spoke. "You swear you're telling the truth?"

"What? Spencer, I wouldn't lie about something like this. You should know that!"

"Yeah, but this is really weird. Carly and Freddie? It's not something easy to wrap a mind around. AAH! SQUIRREL!"

"Wait, what?"

"There's a squirrel, and it's trying to kill me! No time to explain, go!"

"But-"

"Go!"

"Spen-"

"GO!" And with that, he shoved her out the door. She stared at the door. Spencer hadn't ever seemed quite this insane.

She called the elevator, figuring she could catch a bus to take her home. She hit the button, then froze as she realized something. She left her wallet, which was actually Freddie's until last Thursday, in Brian's apartment. She groaned and leaned against the elevator doors

And fell into Carly's arms.


	13. Chapter 13

Sam looked at Carly. Carly looked at Sam. Sam turned to go down the stairs.

"Sam! Where are you going?" Carly called.

"What do you mean? I'm leaving before I do something I'll regret, like spend twenty seconds with you." Sam tossed over her shoulder.

"What is with you? You just leave? What's so bad about it?"

Sam turned around. "What's so bad about it? WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT IT? You, who freaked out me and Freddork kissed ONCE, didn't tell me that you two were trying to find out how far down each other's throats you could go? And you don't think this is something big?"

"Hey, I had a perfectly valid reason for that! How was I to know you would react like this? You aren't exactly the most restrained person ever."

"Carly, have I ever hurt you? Ever?"

"Well… you pushed me when we met."

"Seriously Carly? You count that as me hurting you?"

Carly sighed. "No. It's just… I thought, if anything would make you hurt me, this would be it. I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't realize just how hard you would take that." She noticed what Sam was wearing. "Why are you wearing Spencer's shirt? And that skirt looks familiar too."

"Yeah, Spencer gave it to me. I don't know why he had it, and I don't think I want to."

"O…kay. That still doesn't explain why you're wearing his clothes in the first place. Come to think of it, why are you here? You didn't stay in my apartment last night."

"Yeah. I stayed at Brian's."

"Wait, you WHAT?!"

"I stayed at Brian's. Chill, it's not like I slept in his bed or anything. He sleeps on the third floor, I was on a couch bed on the first. Not that big of a deal."

"He lives nearby?"

"Yeah, a couple floors up in room 15 F"

"That still doesn't explain why you're wearing Spencer's clothes."

"I… kinda left before I got dressed." Sam blushed a bit.

"Why would you do that?" Carly was looking at her strangely.

"I was pretty mad, and didn't stop. Dang it! Now that I think about it, I didn't get breakfast either."

"What could make you THAT angry? You missed free food, and forgot about being in your pajamas- come to think of it, don't you usually sleep in your boxers and an undershirt?"

"Um… yeah. He kinda called me a lonely violent whore. Without much provocation."

Carly's eyes flashed. "He did what?" Her voice was dangerously quiet.

"Yeah, I'm going to stand way over here."

"The nerve of him! Where does he get off calling you… calling you things like THAT? I oughta go up there and give him a piece of my mind. That little… URGH!"

"Carly! Carly, I'll deal with him myself. Right now, all that matters is that I need to get home to get some of my own clothes before I go to school."

"Couldn't you just ask Spencer to drive you?"

Sam was dumbstruck. Then she smacked herself in the forehead."Duh! Why didn't I think of that?"

"Sam, it's okay. We all miss the horrendously obvious solutions occasionally. Spencer can drive you, you can borrow some of my clothes for school today."

"Thanks Carls. It would have really sucked to have really broken up over a dude."

"Sam, you make it sound like WE'RE dating." Carly said, laughing.

"Naw, if we were dating I'd have to be an athletic jerk."

"Don't give me that, most of them were really nice once you get to know them."

"Yeah no. They were basically all chosen solely because the were either a) hot or b) athletes."

"You're one to talk. What about Pete? Or Shane? You choose the same guys I do."

They walked back to Carly's apartment, chatting.

Freddie apologized to Sam, and she said it was fine, as long as they didn't hide it. Actually, she just meant from her, she was perfectly fine with nobody outside of their circle finding out. Then there was homeroom.

Brian was, of course, sitting in his normal seat, reading a book without the dust jacket on. The cover was blank and black. Carly stalked over. She stood over him for a second, then slapped him across the face.

He sighed, rubbed his cheek once, and looked up. "What?"

One angry rant later, with no information and barely a word from Brian, the bell rang. He didn't talk to any of them the whole day, and they returned the favor.

Once the final bell rang, he headed to the weight room. Usually it was only open to school athletes, but he'd arranged for access with one of the coaches.

A/N version 13

Yeah most of it's boring. But for this all to work, they had school. So, hey. Also, it's one am. You can deal with a short chapter.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N version 14.0

So school's starting again. As such, and because I refuse to accept anything under 800 words, and I don't like ones that short, there may be nights I don't update. Also, some stuff kinda sucks right now, so quality might go down a bit, and it might be more depressing than usual. You've been given fair warning.

Clank. The weights settled on their cords as Brian slowly let the bar down. He mopped his face of the sweat rolling down his forehead. No matter how much he worked, he couldn't seem to stop thinking. And that was one thing he really needed to do. He sighed, then leaned back for his next set.

_Why do I do this? Every time, and none of them deserve it._ He sighed. _Well, Sam definitely doesn't. And it's all __her__ fault._ Clank. _I tell her everything, including the fact that I like her, actually love her, and do everything I can for her. _Clank. _And it ends with her calling me a really annoying creepy stalker, and changing everything including her phone number and online contacts._ Clank._ I'm not sure I ever got her phone number! _Clank. _And all I got was what she put online for anyone to see! _Clank. _She even gave me that first one, and the second one was mostly on there anyway. _Clank. _But late one night, I tell her. _Clank. _And she… well, I guess I can't call it breaking up, since we never started dating anyway._ Clank. _But really, telling me that… it was a bit much. _Clank. _Eh. _Clank. _Whatever. _Clank. _How do I explain this to Sam though? _Clank. _With my luck, she'll agree with __her__. _Clank. _But it really sucks for her to have to deal with me minus meds. _Clank. _Freaking Julia. _Clank.

He sat up again. It wasn't working. _I should probably just do a couple more machines and call it a day. I can go back to angsting later._ That was the worst part. He knew it was stupid. He knew he should be over her by now. He knew he shouldn't still be dealing with it, and have misogynistic tendencies, and have some condition he could never remember the name of. All he really knew was that he didn't care about people until he swallowed his meds. Or what he said. It was not good when he had streaks of sarcasm and occasional sadism the rest of the time too. Aloud, he said "I really should apologize. And probably explain. But I really don't want to. It's easier if she just thinks I'm a prick."

"And you're not?" he knew that voice. He turned his head and saw…

Carly, leaning against the door frame. What was she doing here? "What are you doing here?" There was a bit of a quaver in his voice. She frowned. She didn't like the thought of the guy she meant to yell at as, well, human.

"I wanted to tell you exactly what I thought of you. Sam managed to tell me what you said to her, pretty much word for word. Freddie wanted to try and beat you up, but I convinced him that was a bad idea. But do you know how badly that hurt her? Do you know how hard it is to get her to remember anything, let alone word for word? She just doesn't. I don't think she's ever done it before." She walked over and sat on the seat next to him. "I'm willing to give you one chance. One. If you don't convince me you are not, in fact, a horrible, horrible person who deserves to die, I will make your life absolutely miserable. I'm not Sam, who would beat you up. I'm not Freddie, who would do some tech thing that would do horrible things to normal people, but I doubt it would work on you. Rest assured however, I can and will make your life miserable. Now. What do you think could possibly make me not think you are a turd pie for what you said to Sam?"

"Look, I really don't want to talk about this right now. Or ever, to be honest. How about this. I'll meet you on the roof of Bushwell an hour after sunset." He took a deep breath. "I'll tell you everything then."

"Fine." She stood up. "But I'm only the beginning. You won't have to tell Freddie, but you will have to talk to Sam. And frankly, now that she's not upset any more, she's pissed. And she has every right to be." Carly walked out.

Brian watched her go. She was, quite frankly, amazing. He couldn't do that himself, and he never knew anyone quite so capable of making a threat that earnestly with nothing behind her at that moment, especially after seeing him in a fight. Then he realized he'd have to explain everything to both Carly and Sam, one of them tonight. He collapsed back onto the rest with a sigh. He laid there for a minute, then reached out and grabbed the bars. He pushed them up, then

Clank.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N version 15.0

Before you read this, start .com/watch?v=eecDt8GBr78. It goes perfectly with this chapter.

Wind gusted over the rooftops. Carly shivered. She was early, and hadn't expected it to be this cold. She'd never actually been up here before, and she didn't really feel like she belonged here. She belonged with friends, in bright lights and loud crowds. Places like this had belonged more to the less accepted people. Sam. Freddie. And of course, Brian. She laughed bitterly as she realized that she was almost the outcast of their little group. They understood what it was like to not be accepted. To be ignored, taunted, or feared. Sometimes at the same time. She hadn't ever felt like that. She'd been the popular one from day one. Pretty, sweet, smart, all the things looked for by the girls and the boys. She was the quintessential girl of your dreams. Except, of course, for Brian. She'd noticed it. He never really looked at girls like that. Like he was feeling a girl up with his eyes, checking out sizes, skin, faces. He just… looked. He didn't look at any girl differently than any boy. Except Sam.

She sighed. Sam. He felt something for her. It had started what, a week and a half ago? During a lesson…

"Harder! 3!" Sam's fist slammed into the pad. "You call that hard? My grandma hits harder than that! 4!" again the pad shook. "You're better than that! 5!" Sam snarled, and a feral light appeared in her eyes. She twisted and smashed her fist into the pad with all the strength her deceptively thin frame had. Brian fell on his butt. And a different, but equally bright, light appeared in his eyes. Respect.

"That. That was it! Now, once you do that every time, we'll see. Now, jab-cross-right uppercut-left hook. Go!"

Carly had seen it multiple times since then. Something in his eyes, akin to both respect and, well, love. She doubted Sam realized it. It wasn't like Sam had realized Freddie liked her. Heck, Carly didn't think Freddie realized he liked Sam either. Which was probably for the best. Sam was not in any kind of condition to deal with love from a male friend. Especially since her other one just ripped her emotions out through her throat. Then shredded them. Speaking of him…

His footsteps rang on the metal steps up to the roof. He was dressed much better for the weather. His face held absolutely no emotion. He silently motioned for her to follow him to the other side of the roof. There were two folding chairs set up facing each other over a table. On the table was a pack of hand warmers and Sam's bag. "Sit. I thought you would want these. Especially the hand warmers." His voice was oddly flat. It held no trace of… well, anything. Carly frowned. Granted, she hadn't been around him much, but he sounded weird. She sat down anyway. He sat and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

"Explain. You have one chance, as I said." Carly said, though the threatening angle was somewhat spoiled by her near desperate opening of the hand warmers.

"First, don't stop me. I really don't talk about this, and if you ask questions, it might not go badly. So save your questions for the end." He sounded like her history teacher. The one who's voice repeatedly bored people to sleep.

He took a deep breath. "There's… multiple reasons. First, I've never really liked girls. Not like, I hate girls, I just don't _like_ like girls. And no, I'm not gay. That's been thrown at me a lot. I just don't really like people in general. Also, I have this disorder. I can't ever remember the name of it, but it basically makes me mean. I don't care about people, what they want… anything. I basically do things for my pleasure, regardless of how it hurts other people. This is pretty bad when you add in my slight sadistic stripe and rampant sarcasm when I'm depressed. That happens quite a bit too. She got me before I had my meds and, with what she was wearing, well, it wasn't exactly something I could pass up in that state."

"Okay, but-"

"I said to wait." Inhale. "About a year before I left Jersey…"

Several minutes later, after telling her about Julia, "Anyway, after she called me an annoying creepy stalker, I was a bit burned out on girls. I think you'll probably understand why. But for a while, I was pretty depressed. I had stopped taking my meds while I was semi-with her because I always thought about her. I could control it. But when that happened… well, we were out of the pills and it took a month or two to get more. By then I had made every single person in school thoroughly miserable for no good reason. And since then, I've been distinctively misogynistic until I get my meds. So yeah, that's really it."


	16. Chapter 16

A/N version 16.0

I really forgot about this until 11:30. It's uber short. So sue me. Or if you would prefer for me to delay for a night to have a really good chapter, then review and tell me. Or review if you wouldn't. Or, you know, review because it's a good thing to do that takes around three seconds. Heck, review if only to tell me you didn't just click on a link to here and then leave!

Carly sat, stunned. "You know, I think that just might be a reason. Actually, I would probably have taken just the part about the disorder. But yeah, I can see how that would happen."

Brian shook his head. "It's just… I hate it when I do things like this. But I guess I thought it was easier to have her hate me, and not have any kind of optimism about it. This always happens when I have to deal with someone for long enough."

"Brian, I'm sure you can deal with this. It isn't the end. Unless you really don't want to have anything to do with Sam anymore. That could be arranged, but I somehow doubt it is exactly what you want."

"What do you mean?"

Carly laughed. "You like Sam. It's ridiculously obvious. I had a harder time seeing the chairs when I was sitting down. C'mon, admit it."

Brian looked down. "Well, yeah, a bit…"

Carly snorted. "I'd say more than just a bit. Whatever. I'll tell her. Then you get to apologize, and see what it'll take to get her to forgive you." She stood up. "Oh, and thanks for the hand warmers."

"Hey. Let me show you something." Carly turned around. Brian had picked up the chairs and was turning them in a precise place on the roof. "Here, sit."

"Why?"

"You'll see." Carly sighed, but sat. He had demonstrated something resembling integrity, so she might as well trust him with this. She sat down.

A couple minutes later, lights blinked on in a building on the horizon. Then another, and another. Soon, `she was looking over a sea of lights stretching in every direction. They were of all colors, from neon signs to glowing billboards to soft lights coming from windows. It was beautiful, with the moon floating above the ocean of manmade light.

"I told you."

Carly smiled. "You were right. That was worth staying to see. Thank you."

"My pleasure."

"Why did you put the chairs in that exact spot?"

"It's the best one. I've taken pictures and analyzed the differing amounts, mixes, and pattern of light, then ran the results through a program that graphed them comparatively, then made it into an overlay for a map of the roof, determining the single optimal point for a viewing."

Carly was taken aback. "That was quite a bit of work to do for no reason."

"There were actually two reasons. First, I was curious, and bored. In that order. Second, I wanted to know if I ever brought somebody else up here."

Carly barely managed to not chuckle. "Have you showed this to Sam yet?"

Brian looked away. "I haven't actually gotten a chance yet. I was going to do it the day I brought her here to your house, but certain things got in the way."

Carly groaned. "You really don't need to remind me, I am well aware of what distracted you. Gimme a break, will ya?"

Brian cracked a smile. It was a small smile, but it was progress. "I might, in a couple years. Until then, I learned from the best how to remind people of mistakes."

"And who would that be?"

"Girls" Carly sputtered, and Brian laughed. "We should probably head back inside. Come on."


	17. Chapter 17

Before they started down, Carly pulled out her phone and pressed a few buttons, then snapped it shut again and followed Brian down the stairs.

Brian said goodbye to Carly as he left the elevator on his floor. He walked down the hall, and started to unlock his door, but it swung open at a touch. He entered warily, confused as to what happened. He was sure he'd locked it, and his mom usually did the same thing. His questions stopped when he got into the main room.

Sam sat cross-legged on the couch, reading _The Skies of Pern_, which she had obviously nabbed from the library upstairs. She glanced up as she heard the door open, and saw Brian. Her expression vanished, and she carefully placed her bookmark in the book, shut it and put it on the table. "Sit." She said.

Brian sat on the couch. She continued. "Carly told me you had something to say to me. And that I shouldn't give you a choice about saying it. So start talking. Mama wants to get back to her book."

Brian sighed, and basically repeated the conversation he'd had on the roof with Carly. Sam didn't say a word. Then she leaned in, hugged him, and left. Brian sat there for a minute, then went to get ready for bed.

School was much better after this, though changed. The group basically got a new member, though it wasn't always all of them. Carly and Freddie still disappeared, more often than not during lunch. It got to the point where Sam and Brian were used to eating lunch, just the two of them. Pretty much every day they ended up talking about books, or going over something Sam hadn't gotten quite right. Their lessons weren't really lessons anymore. They'd fight, and Sam would either ask for something specific, or Brian would recommend something. Then something came in to really break up the monotony of the routine.

Shelby came to Seattle.

Her tour took her to the arena that had just been built in the middle of the city. It was actually multi-roomed, so that minor competitions could happen as well as giant ones. Sam felt like Christmas, Hannukah, her birthday, and Easter all came at the same time. She dragged Brian with her to the fight. Dragged wasn't really the right word, seeing as he came almost willingly, and basically just grumbled for effect.

The fight was amazing. Brian dressed up for it a bit, wearing jeans and using a comb on his hair. At least a little. Not that it mattered after Sam got so excited when Shelby slammed her opponent into the cage right in front of them that she almost lifted Brian up by his hair. The two weird tufts from that left him with horns all night.

They got to meet Shelby after the match. She actually invited them to a private meeting, since the event with Carly. Sam didn't quite babble, starting when they first met with Shelby. She did come very close, and it slipped out she'd been learning to fight with Brian. Shelby's eyes widened slightly.

"You've been learning to fight? I thought you already could."

Sam grinned. "Well, yeah. But he's making me _better_ at it."

Shelby looked at the unassuming kid with the bulky jacket and cargo pants, and snorted. "Him? Not likely."

Sam laughed. "That's what I thought at first too. But then I got into a fight with him. He kicked my butt."

Shelby looked at him again. Yes, he was a kid, but there was something in his eyes… a look that said he wouldn't do anything to you, but if you started something you would need an army to bring him down. Confidence.

"You know, you said you wanted to fight me before. Do you still wanna?" Shelby asked Sam.

Sam looked at her. "Of COURSE I still want to fight you. It would be epic!"

And so it was decided.

Shelby and Sam faced off in the cage, now just about deserted. The only spectators were Shelby's people and Brian. Brian leaned against the cage, waiting. It started.

Shelby didn't bother with circling. Her left fist feinted at Sam's face and her right sped towards Sam's stomach. Sam recognized the feint, and moved her elbow into the path of the fist, not moving far at all. Sam's non-blocking hand gripped Shelby's extended bicep, and the block transitioned into a grip on the wrist. Sam turned, pulled on the arm, and helped Shelby up with her hip. Shelby landed on her back, and Sam fell on her like a ton of bricks.

They struggled on the ground, turning, hitting, grabbing and twisting. Shelby almost locked in a chicken wing, and Sam kicked at her thigh to get out. Shelby finally smashed a hand into Sam's back and levered herself on top of her. One fist dug into the side of Sam's neck, and an arm was forced into the other side by Shelby's arm underneath her neck. Brian glanced at it. "Tap, Sam." Her legs relaxed and she tapped on Shelby's side.

Shelby got up and extended a hand to help Sam up. "Why did he say that?" She asked.

Sam took the hand and pulled herself up. "I'd say mostly because he knew that I wouldn't give up in this match, and he knew I would hurt myself if I didn't. So yeah. I listen to at least one teacher."

Brian opened the door and walked in. "I'm not really a teacher any more. Think of it more as a more experienced student." He rummaged in his coat and pulled out a small bottle of Gatorade. It tumbled through the air until Sam caught it.

"Thanks." She said.

Shelby looked at Brian strangely. "You just happen to have a bottle of that on you?"

"Well, yeah. When Sam get's ticked off, we usually go for a run, so I've just gotten in the habit of keeping one or two on hand. She get's ticked off a LOT."

Shelby was pretty bemused by this point. "And you have space for this how?"

Brian spread his coat out. Pockets took up almost the entire interior of the coat. From a few the size of a flash drive, to one on either side you could fit a good sized book in, it was covered. Zipper pockets, mesh pockets, pen loops. Pockets on pockets, pockets in pockets. Almost every one of them filled.

"Ah." Shelby looked him over. He was wearing a t-shirt that was almost tight, and it hinted at very toned muscles. "You look like you're in pretty good shape, and you've been teaching her to fight. How would you like a match with me?"

"Eh." Brian shrugged. "If you want to."

Shelby smirked. "Well then. I assume you want to change?"

"These wouldn't be the best clothes for it, no."

"Bruno! There's a karate center in one of the other rooms. See if they have a spare uniform that he can use he's a?" She looked at him questioningly.

"Adult medium." He said.

"Adult medium. Just get one. Will you be comfortable in one of those things?" She asked Brian.

"I haven't worn one in a while, but I wore one for long enough. So yeah."

Sam looked at him. "You wore a karate uniform? When?"

"When I was taking karate. Sort of. More of mixed martial arts really."

"You took mixed martial arts Brian?" Sam and Shelby were both interested, but Sam was the one who asked.

"No, I actually just knew everything I taught you from birth. Yeah, I did that, and wrestling, and regular kickboxing, and submission grappling. Any other questions?"

"Are you and Sam dating?" All eyes zeroed in on Shelby.

"No, we're not." Sam said, after a pause.

"Definitely not. I'm a nerd, she's… well, she's Sam." Brian added.

"Yeah, you should probably try that. But look, the uniform's here. Get dressed, and we'll get this started."

A/N

Sorry about the non-updating for a long time. Some stuff's been going on in my real life (yes, I have one of those. Kinda.) and it hasn't exactly been motivating me to write. Plus I have actual wrestling practice (which is where I got the horrible training from) and homework and yadda yadda yadda. You don't really care. But yeah. I might divert my meager writing time to a thinly veiled metaphor story. But I'm going to try to keep up with this story.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N and here's the fight scene. I recently joined a role play, so it's been taking a lot of time. But I'm still going to try to finish this up. Actually, I think it's getting pretty close to done. We'll see.

Brian faced Shelby. Her face was smooth and composed, getting ready to fight. Brian had a smile on his face. Sam knew he did that solely to unnerve his opponents. She'd never seen it slip in a fight. They bowed, oddly formal and stepped back into their respective stances. A bell rang and Shelby darted in. Jab, cross, hook. The first combination every fighter learned. Brian just kept smiling as he nudged the first two away and brought his arm up to block the last one. His leg snapped out and Shelby intercepted it with her shin just before it slammed into her thigh. "Low kicks, huh?" Shelby remarked. Brian just kept smiling.

For a time, the silence was almost absolute. The breathing was almost as loud as the soft sounds of the two striking, hitting air more often than anything else. Then, there was a change in the tempo. It was impossible to tell who started it; it simply changed. The whiff of a strike going by someone's side was replaced more and more often with the sharp sound of a fist or foot coming in abrupt contact with flesh. Breathing sped up, more and more air being required for the movements. Strikes flew faster, and harder. Suddenly, Shelby landed a fist in Brian's face. The smile didn't disappear; it changed.

Where before it was a normal, if somewhat strained, smile, it became abruptly abnormal. One side slid up, baring teeth, his eyes widened, and his lips curled just enough to show his teeth. Along with a slight change in his posture he seemed… vicious, somehow. Bloodthirsty. Insane.

A fist snaked out to smash into Shelby's face. She recoiled slightly, and was immediately hit with a kick to her thigh. A punch landed on her shoulder. A kick in her solar plexus (A/N right above the abs. no muscle. Hurts a lot.). A hook to the side of her head. One after another, up, down, to the side. The barrage seemed to come from everywhere, and Shelby couldn't even slip a strike through it. The few occasions she landed a punch, even a solid one, he ignored the pain and smashed into the part that was inevitably exposed with it.

Sam watched in awe, and horror. Brian always was… not gentle. But this was a side she'd never seen of him. He usually took more from the Japanese arts, of redirecting your opponent's energy then the simple punching them in the face. There was a certain awful elegance to him punching Shelby in the face though. Except… and there was the takedown.

Brian sat on top of Shelby, punches raining on her. Her hands came up and he levered one to the mat, straining against it slightly, then locking in a submission on it. He smiled wolfishly, and as he'd told Sam never to do, cranked it. There was a sharp crack, and Shelby grunted. Then Brian got up, and walked out, still with the same insane grin on his face.


	19. Chapter 19

Sam stared in horror. Brian had just… what had he just done? He walked past her, walked past the stunned manager, past Shelby's trainer. No one even tried to stop him, they were just that stunned. Shelby lay on the ground, clutching her arm. A low sound escaped from gritted teeth, and the spell was broken. The trainer and manager rushed into the ring. Sam glanced at her, then at the door Brian had just strolled out of_. _Her anger control had skyrocketed with her training, but it was bubbling at just about the limit for her now. Her teacher had just gone insane and beaten the heck out of her role model, and done just the thing he said to never do. This could not go unaddressed.

Sam stormed out like a vengeful goddess, ready to do whatever damage she possibly could. Brian was standing just outside the door, leaning on the wall opposite the door. Sam grabbed him and spun him around. "What were you thinking?" she screamed in his face. He shoved her away from him.

"Now, what makes you think I was thinking at all?" Brian said. Sam stared. His tone of voice was weird; a hint of something lay under the surface, restrained but almost breaking loose.

"You piece of chizz, you just broke her arm! How could you do that? You make me sick?" Sam couldn't stop screaming. She knew it was stupid, but that didn't change the fact that she couldn't stop. Brian casually grabbed both of her wrists and brought them off of him.

"You don't want to be here right now. Just go back in and help her, if you care so much." Brian put his hands in his pockets and started off. Sam couldn't stand it. It was just like their first fight, him almost ignoring her existence. She stepped and kicked him in the middle of his back, just the way she'd been taught.

He stumbled forward and caught himself on the rail. His knuckles were pale from the grip. "Sam, right now is not the time." He said, teeth clenched. His free hand trembled slightly, She spit in his face. He straightened. "You think I really care about that?" Sam lunged forward and landed a cross almost exactly where Shelby had.

His feet shifted, and his shoulders straightened. His left hand gripped her right wrist as he slid under her arm, and his right arm slipped under her legs and gripped her knee. His shoulder came up, his left hand pulled, and his right hand pushed. She tumbled onto the ground, hitting her head sharply on the concrete ramp. "Son of a bitch that hurt!"

Brian laughed. "Good. It was supposed to." His eyes had regained the insanity they'd had as he fought Shelby at the end. Sam gathered herself and lunged at his feet. He sidestepped as if he had all the time in the world and kicked her head as it came past his feet.

Sam fell on her side, rolling just as Brian's knee came down on her stomach. The air fled her lungs and she gasped just in time for Brian's fist to smash into her jaw. It wasn't full force, but it still hurt. Suddenly, Sam understood.

Brian had to either be holding back, or playing with her. And if he was holding back, why was he still fighting at all?

"You bastard! You're just playi- ow!" her jaw hurt too much to speak at length. He shrugged.

"Yeah well." Suddenly his knee dug savagely into her ribs as he put more weight on it. Sam grunted and, for a second, her throat was exposed. Brian's eyes glinted, and his hand chopped at her throat- but stopped just short. "No." he whispered, to low for Sam to even be sure she heard it. Then he was off her and running.

Sam swore at his back, not realizing she had just almost died of a crushed wind pipe. Sam rested for a second before getting up and heading back inside.

Shelby was now lying flat on her back in the center of the arena. There was an ice pack sitting under her shoulder, and one under her elbow. Her trainer knelt next to her, asking questions in a low voice. Her manager had just finished talking to someone on his phone and snapped it shut. He looked up and caught sight of Sam. "What happened?" He tapped his jaw.

Sam gingerly touched the spot he'd indicated. "Brian. Ow."

The manager frowned. "I thought you two were friends. I could maybe understand him doing this to her, curse him, but to you?"

Sam hung her head. "Yeah. I don't ow! Understand it either."

He shrugged. "Whatever. The ambulance will be here soon. You can stay, or go, if you have a ride. If not, I can get you one."

Brian had been her ride. She couldn't very well call his mom and say "oh hey, your son just beat the stuffing out of and broke a professional MMA fighter's arm, and just for a finale, slammed me into the concrete ground, knocked the wind out of me, and smashed my jaw. Then he ran away. Can you pick me up?" She looked at the manager. "Can I get a ride? Ow." It sucked to not be able to say more than a couple words without her jaw aching.

"Sure." He beckoned to a guy who had been hanging out near the door. "This is Benjy. He'll take you where you need to go."

"Come on. Where you need to go?" Benjy asked as he walked to the door.

"Bushwell." Sam still had one rock in her life.


End file.
